体坛英语新闻：Lyon and Lille share points, Montpellier rally past Monaco in Ligue 1

PARIS, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Lille squandered a two-goal lead in a 2-2 home draw with Lyon, while Montpellier came from one goal down to upset relegation-threatened Monaco 2-1 in the 15th round match of Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Lille broke the deadlock in the head-to-head possibly deciding the second spot in the 17th minute, as Mehmet Zeki Celik's right-flank cross fell perfectly through a slight deflection for Loic Remy to sweep home.

The hosts went on to extended their advantage 11 minutes later through a counter-attack. After Thiago Mendes intercepted Houssem Aouar's pass, Remy released Nicolas Pepe for his ninth league goal this season.

Lyon continued to suffer from an early departure of Maxwel Cornet, who earned his first league start of the season based on his brilliant performance in midweek's Champions League, due to a hamstring injury just around the half-hour mark.

Memphis Depay missed a penalty after the restart, but Lyon still found a way of demonstrating their comeback.

Depay made a bit redemption with his clever back-heel pass teeing up Bertrand Traore to score in the 63rd minute. Lyon tied the score with four minutes from time through Moussa Dembele's shot.

Lyon remain unbeaten in their last nine matches in all competitions, while Lille stay intact at home this season.

After notching his first win as Monaco's head coach last weekend, former French great Thierry Henry felt pleased to see his team move ahead before the break. Belgian international Youri Tielemans collected Benjamin Henrichs' return pass to fire a low shot at target in the 42nd minute.

However, Monaco lacked efficiency in their attack in the second half, costing them twice from their opponents.

Andy Delort found Gaetan Laborde to head home the equalizer in the 81st minute, and Petar Skuletic capped Montpellier's comeback five minutes later.

The hard-fought victory move Montpellier to second, one point ahead of Lyon. Lille trail by one point from Lyon on fourth. Monaco, the 2017 French league champions, remain second from bottom.

Also on Saturday, Angers tied Caen 1-1, bottom sides Guingamp held Nice to a goalless draw, and Nimes crushed Amiens 3-0.

Paris Saint-Germain, in quest of their 15th straight victory to start the campaign, will visit Bordeaux on Sunday.